1. It was great to have a 4 minute commute to Minooka on a Friday night ........ No question I enjoyed a short drive from home to Minooka Friday night which was roughly a 4 minute drive. Even though Minooka is my home school districts and both of my kids went to Minooka and graduated....I guess it's technically not "my school" but it's been "my" school since I moved out here. The administration, coaches and fans have always been just amazing to me and it's always fun to get to see so many people I seldom see as much in the fall. As you'll see my travel agenda w2ill begin to ramp up starting later today in Rockford and won't slow down until Champaign....so it's always nice to get a home game in when I can.
2. Just a tough, tough loss fore the home team Minooka was down 7-0 very early to Plainfield North in the first quarter but then a 72 yard touchdown run from Minooka RN Joey Partridge answered the early score. Minooka for the most part would control the football and time of possession up until the late 4Q quarter when North stripped the football from Minooka QB Gavin Dooley at mid field, scored with under a minute to play to secure the come from behind 22-21 win. Again Minooka did some things well in this loss but this no question hurts for the home team. Minooka will be fine, will most likely end up 6-3 and again they do some nice things here including showing very good line play and played solid defense.
3. So how good is Plainfield North?- The Tigers (7-0) can wrap up a Southwest Prairie West title with a win next week at West Aurora....and overall I really like this North team this season. The Tigers have a pretty balanced offense led by senior QB Demir Ashuri who is a truly talented dual threat quarterback with an equally effective arm and legs. The running game is also solid and senior RB John St. Clair is a very good overall high school running back, a steady runner with nice speed, instincts and is part of an experienced offensive skills group for Plainfield North. I'll get a bit more details in the upcoming 2022 Breakdown series but I like where I have North ranked....and this will be yet another very solid team in 8A you do not want to see early on in the bracket.
4. Minooka's game day atmosphere is underrated A few years ago Minooka (FINALLY) decided to invest in it's athletic facilities and one of the best decisions they made was to rebuild the then visitor stands into new home side stadium seating, added a ton of much needed capacity and also added new field turf, new track and also FINALLY renovated it's weight room. The new additional no question have been large for the Minooka profile....and what it's done as well it give the home team a terrific home field advantage. Minooka has always drawn well from a home field standpoint...and the design of the new home stands makes it feel like the home fans are almost sitting right on top of you...and the overall crowd noise is really impressive. Again well done Minooka....the sheer amount of students and fans who attend every home game is always impressive and has given them a bit time atmosphere. I also hear next will be a brand new lighting system and maybe even a Jumbotron? Word has it the lights will happen very soon and that talks are happening regarding the Jumbotron....
5. How will the Southwest Prairie West team shape up come playoff time- I've watched Oswego, Yorkville and Oswego East on video and have now seen Plainfield North and Minooka live...and without getting to detailed I like where I have Plainfield North ranked right now....don't see a pressing need to include any others in the Top 30 for now and I feel pretty confident in that move. Again teams like Oswego East, Yorkville and Minooka can and will compete with several others in 8A....but like everyone other team, it will all depends on the brackets and the matchups. I can see a few of these teams pull off a win or two early in 8A....and also it would be interesting to see Plainfield North is they dropped to say 7A....if that would happen they could become much more dangerous in 7A for sure.
2. Just a tough, tough loss fore the home team Minooka was down 7-0 very early to Plainfield North in the first quarter but then a 72 yard touchdown run from Minooka RN Joey Partridge answered the early score. Minooka for the most part would control the football and time of possession up until the late 4Q quarter when North stripped the football from Minooka QB Gavin Dooley at mid field, scored with under a minute to play to secure the come from behind 22-21 win. Again Minooka did some things well in this loss but this no question hurts for the home team. Minooka will be fine, will most likely end up 6-3 and again they do some nice things here including showing very good line play and played solid defense.
3. So how good is Plainfield North?- The Tigers (7-0) can wrap up a Southwest Prairie West title with a win next week at West Aurora....and overall I really like this North team this season. The Tigers have a pretty balanced offense led by senior QB Demir Ashuri who is a truly talented dual threat quarterback with an equally effective arm and legs. The running game is also solid and senior RB John St. Clair is a very good overall high school running back, a steady runner with nice speed, instincts and is part of an experienced offensive skills group for Plainfield North. I'll get a bit more details in the upcoming 2022 Breakdown series but I like where I have North ranked....and this will be yet another very solid team in 8A you do not want to see early on in the bracket.
4. Minooka's game day atmosphere is underrated A few years ago Minooka (FINALLY) decided to invest in it's athletic facilities and one of the best decisions they made was to rebuild the then visitor stands into new home side stadium seating, added a ton of much needed capacity and also added new field turf, new track and also FINALLY renovated it's weight room. The new additional no question have been large for the Minooka profile....and what it's done as well it give the home team a terrific home field advantage. Minooka has always drawn well from a home field standpoint...and the design of the new home stands makes it feel like the home fans are almost sitting right on top of you...and the overall crowd noise is really impressive. Again well done Minooka....the sheer amount of students and fans who attend every home game is always impressive and has given them a bit time atmosphere. I also hear next will be a brand new lighting system and maybe even a Jumbotron? Word has it the lights will happen very soon and that talks are happening regarding the Jumbotron....
5. How will the Southwest Prairie West team shape up come playoff time- I've watched Oswego, Yorkville and Oswego East on video and have now seen Plainfield North and Minooka live...and without getting to detailed I like where I have Plainfield North ranked right now....don't see a pressing need to include any others in the Top 30 for now and I feel pretty confident in that move. Again teams like Oswego East, Yorkville and Minooka can and will compete with several others in 8A....but like everyone other team, it will all depends on the brackets and the matchups. I can see a few of these teams pull off a win or two early in 8A....and also it would be interesting to see Plainfield North is they dropped to say 7A....if that would happen they could become much more dangerous in 7A for sure.
